Native Fashion and Clothing at the Cherokee Art Market

Omigoodness, look at these beautiful pictures from the 2010 Cherokee Art Market. You can view more of their images by visiting the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism facebook page. Enjoy!

Orlando Dugi - Feathered Frenzy

Penny Singer

Martha Berry - Honoring the Warriors

Gary B. Custer - Navajo Concho Belt

Lauren Frank

Tahninbaa Naataanii - Navajo Chief Blanket

Margaret Roach Wheeler - Beloved One

Article | Margaret Roach Wheeler Inspired by Heritage

Below is a really neat article (that I've edited slightly, so click the link at the bottom to read the full article) about Margaret Roach Wheeler. She's a fiber artist and clothing designer, and her work exemplifies how contemporary Native fashion designers look to storytelling traditions as sources of inspiration to create new garments. Many Native women of the past also looked to stories as a source of creativity, and I'm proud to see designers such as Wheeler who continue this legacy.

Fiber artist's Native American heritage inspires her collections
By JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer

Margaret Roach Wheeler is a storyteller.

She doesn't rely on the written word or spoken prose, but fabric, literally weaving a tale.

A fiber artist based in Joplin, Mo., Wheeler is the owner and designer of Mahota Handwovens, a beautiful collection of elaborate garments inspired by her Native American ancestry - specifically, her Chickasaw-Choctaw roots.

"I have pieces that are very emotional," she said during a phone interview, alluding to garment tributes she's made to her mother and father.

In a way, her creations offer a back story about Wheeler, whose grandmother taught her to sew at a very young age.

"I was surrounded by clothing," she said, remembering her grandmother knitting and crocheting dresses and three-piece suits.

Her dad was a teacher through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, so Wheeler grew up on school campuses, including Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah. There, she remembered seeing a room with looms for teaching weaving as a trade.

She also recalled the colorful murals in post offices and schools, created through the Federal Art Project of the Work Projects Administration. They had a great influence on her.

And so did her family's history, generations of which has been passed down.

"Having my history written for me has absolutely been very integral into what I do - to have that history and to know about it, to have my family be very proud of it," said Wheeler, who studied weaving during her master's work at Pittsburg State University in Kansas. She's been weaving ever since.

"So many people don't have any idea about their great-great grandmother and what they did," said Wheeler, whose great-great-great grandmother's name was Mahota, after whom her business is named.

Her grandmother lived with the family, and she'd tell Wheeler stories about their ancestors.

"It made it very precious for me," she said, adding it probably had much to do with her style of work.

Wheeler makes "street clothes," she calls them - her version of ready-to-wear, she allowed us to analogize. All one-of-a-kind and hand-woven, they include colorful dresses, tops, coats, even men's apparel, all contemporary interpretations of Native American garments.

But her Mahota collection is more like art - wearable, of course. And each comes with a story.

Like her "Requiem for a Raven," a long, gorgeous red-and-black robe with an almost Egyptian-like headdress shaped like a raven.

The raven is perched proudly at the top, she explained. "And there's a whoosh of color in the wing structure, and that's the raven flying up at sunset."

The closure at front is two wings, and on the inside are hand-painted silk feathers that are falling - like the lost soul the raven is flying to.

When she lectures about the development of style, she asks people to look at their own heritage, to draw from their own history.

"We all can do that," Wheeler said. "I just feel very fortunate that mine was Native American."

For more about Wheeler, visit tulsaworld.com/mahota

Click here to read more from this Tulsa World article.

Profile of Margaret Roach Wheeler

Profile of Margaret Roach Wheeler: “Mahota” Chickasaw
By Richard Green

Clothing or Art?
Margaret Wheeler’s warm, welcoming smile greeted me as I entered the upstairs foyer of the beautifully restored McSwain Theatre in Ada. She is a small attractive woman with shoulder length silver hair, which beautifully complements her dark brown skin. Her face, and especially her eyes, are quite expressive when she talks.

I was there one day last summer for her help with an article I was working on. In James Adair’s book, History of American Indians, there is a passage about how the Indians used buffalo hair to make clothes and I wondered if this modern Chickasaw weaver could tell me how her ancestors did it.
Actually I didn’t get around to asking about that until later. Because arrayed around the large foyer were about 15 mannequins garbed in Margaret’s hand-woven fashions. On display were dresses, tops, coats, cloaks and even some men’s apparel. Some were gorgeous with rich but muted colors and some, accented with feathers and shells, were quite showy. I was struck by the obvious creativity that went into not only the clothing, but how each was exhibited. Taken in full, they were more like works of art than items of clothing.

I asked her to take me on a tour though I knew the opening of her exhibition would start in about an hour. As we walked and she talked and I gawked, she adjusted a garment with a stylish headdress.
I thought I was going to be interviewing a weaver, but as I tried to take it all in, I was thinking, this is weaving?

“Do you call yourself a weaver?” I asked.

“Well, yes, but also a textile artist,” she answered matter-of-factly, as though “textile artist” was a title as common as plumber. Later, she told me that as far as she knew, she was the only Native American weaving clothing. “There are many designers but they are using commercial cloth, not weaving the material on a loom. This is my niche in the Indian market.”

“But it’s very labor intensive,” she said, gesturing at an artfully woven cloak with shades of purple, and a design reminiscent of the motifs of the Mississippian Period (roughly 900 to 1600 A.D.). “One like this takes a couple of weeks of full days.”

As I continue looking at the exhibit in my provincial way, I’m thinking a few of these would look lovely on some women, but for the most part, I’m wondering, but not yet asking, who wears these clothes and where? To parties? And if one takes weeks of intensive work to complete, what must the price be? I notice no price tags, and figure it’s like they say: if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

I recall I’m there to ask about clothing made from buffalo hair. The exhibition seemed about as removed from a buffalo hair spun and woven product as a Ferrari does from a Model-T. She confirmed that none of the clothing on display was made from buffalo hair, but she told me that she had obtained some once. To clean it, she staked it out in a running stream, like Chickasaw women did in centuries past. When the current didn’t prove strong enough, she took the buffalo hair to a car wash and finished the job. Then, she told me how she thought the Chickasaws might have spun it before women had looms. When I had what I needed, I suggested we finish the tour.

Margaret said she found some pattern designs during her fellowship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. But she said that most of the pre-removal fabrics she had examined and photographed in the Smithsonian’ s facility in Suitland, Maryland, were prehistoric, mainly from the Spiro Mounds (in eastern Oklahoma). So it is difficult, if not impossible, to connect any of those fabrics with individual historic tribes.

As she commented on the exhibits and answered my questions, Margaret’s experience as a teacher was evident. She had told me she had taught at the Joplin (MO) High School for 10 years before turning her weaving expertise into a full-time business in 1984.

Even though the only thing I know about fashion is that I don’t know anything about it, my objective changed during my visit. Instead of just getting this one bit of information about buffalo hair for part of an article, why not see if I could get to know better this artist with such obvious talent and creativity. So I asked if we could meet again. She agreed but said she was entering a busy season.

She explained she had been in Great Britain for two weeks, conducting weaving workshops and doing museum research on historic textiles. This had the effect of obliging her to compress more activities into the summer months. Two of them she was especially looking forward to were teaching weaving at the Chickasaw Arts Academy in Ada in July and in August she would be inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame. We could meet during her two weeks in Ada.

“What I love doing,” she said, “is blending the new with the old. I’m adapting authentic designs to make clothing, using modern techniques and looms that our ancestors didn’t have, to recreate the look. I use modern fibers, and to save a lot of time, I work out the designs and color patterns on my computer before I start weaving.”

I smiled, and said quizzically, “Computer?” She smiled, too, and said, “You know, we Chickasaws have always adapted.”

Click here to read more.

Heard Indian Market 2011 - Margaret Roach Wheeler

Margaret Roach Wheeler (Chickasaw/Choctaw) is one of my favorite artists to check in on at the Heard Indian Market. All of her garments are hand woven, and each year she brings a new style that she's been working on. You have to see her garments in person to appreciate the high-quality of the materials and her finely woven work is truly exceptional.

You can find her at all of the major Indian art markets, and she also teaches weaving workshops in various locations (last year she even went to England). She's also working on creating various Native fashion programs that she hopes to launch in either 2012 or 2013 (ah, the world of funding!). She's a delight to talk to, and it's clear that she's making her mark on the fashion and art worlds.

This year, she won a blue ribbon at the Heard Indian Market in the category Non-Traditional Attire for her 'Chickasaw Hunting Jacket':

Mahota Women

Chickasaw/Choctaw weaver and fashion designer Margaret Roach Wheeler was recently featured in the Chickasaw Times newspaper; click here to read the article online.

Santa Fe Indian Market 2010: Part 2 Wheelwright Art-for-Wear Showcase

On Friday, August 20, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian hosted their annual benefit auction during the Santa Fe Indian Market.

Proceeds from the fundraiser support museum operations and allow the Wheelwright to remain open daily and free to the public.

During the auction preview, potential bidders could also view the Art-for-Wear Designer Showcase, which featured Native couture by top designers.

Back by popular demand, this year's showcase spotlighted Patricia Michaels, Pilar Agoyo, Penny Singer, Dorothy Grant, Teri Greeves, Margaret Roach Wheeler, and TahNibaa Naat'aanii.

I attended the event with my friend Sherry Farrell Racette, and we caught up with designers TahNibaa and Pilar, and volunteers Eslee and Yara.

Here's some pictures from the event!

(Dorothy Grant)

(Margaret Roach Wheeler)

(Dorothy Grant)

(Patricia Michaels)

(Patricia Michaels)

(Patricia Michaels)

(TahNibaa Naat'aanii)

(Terri Greeves)

(Penny Singer purple butterfly vest)

(TahNibaa Naat'aanii scarves)

(Pilar Agoyo pillows)

(Pilar Agoyo t-shirts)

For other posts about Indian Market, click here to read Santa Fe Indian Market 2010: Part I.

Events | Fashion at the Santa Fe Indian Market

Ooh! A ton of events are planned for the upcoming Santa Fe Indian Market hosted by SWAIA, whose goal is to bring Native arts to the world by inspiring artistic excellence, fostering education, and creating meaningful partnerships. And I can't wait to pack my bags!

I love attending Indian Market and checking out all the artist booths down at the Plaza, but I also love to check out all the events that occur on the 'edges' of the sanctioned SWAIA booths.

This year, there are many notable Native fashion events going on - in particular, Virgil Ortiz's Made in Native America clothing line debut, the Tsosie-Gaussoin family's Axiom exhibit at the Poeh Museum, Dorothy Grant's collection preview and booth, the Wheelwright Trunk Show, and the SWAIA Native American Clothing Contest.

Also, check out Southwest Flair's August issue to get the latest scoop on Native fashion - it's all online!


About the events:

Virgil Ortiz's MINA line
August 19-22, 2010
Eternity boutique

Virgil Ortiz will debut his Made in Native America (MINA) Signature T-shirt Collection and canvas tote bags during Indian Market, available exclusively at Eternity located at 127 Water St, or at www.virgilortiz.com. He will also have a pottery showing at Shiprock Trading - the REVOLT opening reception will be held Thursday, August 19, from 6-8 P.M.


Axiom: The Tsosie-Gaussoin Family
August 19, 2010, 5-8pm
Poeh Museum

The Poeh Cultural Center and Museum of the Pueblo of Pojoaque proudly presents its Annual Indian Market Exhibition: AXIOM: Connie Tsosie Gaussoin, David Gaussoin, Wayne Gaussoin, and Robert Dale Tsosie. The exhibit will feature jewelry, clothing designs, paintings, digital media and sculpture. The Opening Reception is Thursday, August 19, 2010 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM and includes Inuit Throat Singers, Maori Dancers, and Tsimshian Singers and fashion show! The exhibit will be open through November 20, 2010.



Dorothy Grant Collection Preview and Booth
August 19-22, 2010
Santa Fe

Dorothy Grant will have a booth down at the plaza (747 LIN-E), featuring Haida couture, sportswear, and accessories for men and women. You can also preview the collection at Hotel Plaza Real, August 19-20, from 1 to 5pm each day. For more information go to dorothygrant.com



Art-for Wear Trunk Show
August 20, 2010, 10:30am-12:30pm
Wheelwright Museum

The Wheelwright Museum's annual Indian Market Trunk Show is back by popular demand. They will host five Native American designers participating in this year's Art-for-Wear event - Featuring exquisite designs by Patricia Michaels, Pilar Agoyo, Penny Singer, Teri Greeves, Margaret Roach Wheeler, and TahNibaa Naat'aanii.


The SWAIA Native American Clothing Contest
Sunday, August 22, 2010 9am-12pm
Santa Fe Plaza, Downtown Santa Fe

Among the many cherished traditions at the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Native American Clothing Contest (NACC) is one of the most beloved and anticipated events. For over twenty years, the NACC has been the most photographed event at the Santa Fe Indian Market. The contest includes categories for traditional and contemporary Native American fashions, features children and adult participants, and awards prizes in over 20 categories.


(A dress by Pilar Agoyo at the SWAIA Native American Clothing Contest)

Native Fashion Designer In Chickasaw Hall of Fame

Three to Enter Chickasaw Hall of Fame
BY Dana Lance, tribal media relations

NORMAN, Okla. - An award-winning textile artist, a music educator, and a protector of tribal sovereignty will be inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame this year.

"Each of these individuals has made significant contributions to the Chickasaw Nation and to the larger community," said Gov. Bill Anoatubby. "It is our privilege to honor these individuals who have dedicated their lives to educating and serving others."

An award-winning weaver, fiber expert, textile artist and designer, Margaret Roach Wheeler, was one of four Native American fashion designers chosen to speak at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York where she also served as Artist in Residence. Mrs. Wheeler has exhibited works at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the National Museum of the Indian in New York, and the Institute of American Indian Arts, among many others.

She has won numerous awards, including the President’s award at Red Earth Festival and Eiteljorg Indian Market Purchase award for the feather cape and kilt she designed for the Chickasaw Nation original production, "Lowak Shoppala’." She also won "Best of Class" at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market and placed first and second in textiles and the 2009 Southeastern Art Show and market.

Formerly an educator, Mrs. Wheeler is now owner/operator of her company, Mahota Handwovens, designing and marketing hand woven contemporary fashion, costumes, and traditional Native American regalia. She actively participates in Chickasaw Nation events and generously offers her time to teaching Chickasaw youth during the Chickasaw Nation Summer Arts Academy.

The Hall of Fame inductions will be at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, August 19, at Riverwind Casino in Norman. Hall of Fame inductees will make a red carpet entrance at 6 p.m. and the banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m.

There is no charge to attend, but reservations are required for the event, which is expected to accommodate approximately 525 guests. Reservations will be accepted beginning July 19. To make reservations, contact Nick Martinez at (580) 310-7903 or email nick.martinez@chickasaw.net.

For more information about the Chickasaw Hall of Fame visit www.chickasaw.net/hof.

To read more about Margaret Roach Wheeler, check out my previous post on her.

And check out her website.

Designer Profile | Margaret Roach Wheeler

Margaret Roach Wheeler
Choctaw/Chickasaw

Margaret Roach Wheeler worked in fiber arts for several years before creating her first hand-woven garment, which was something to wear to an art opening. This garment was the beginning of her line of unique clothing designs, called Mahota Handwovens.

Merging her fine arts education with her native heritage she weaves contemporary garments based on American Indian costumes. In the 1990s, Wheeler focused her work on creating visionary woven sculptures, effectively combining wearable garments with fabric art to create a unique form of wearable art. She has also created “The Mohotans,” an imaginary tribe where each member is adorned in handwoven robes. The “Messenger” was created in 2005 for the Museum of Art and Design in New York and was exhibited in the traveling exhibition, Changing Hands- Art Without Reservation 2. Wheeler blurs the boundary between fashion and performance and invites her models to dance in her garments during fashion shows.

Wheeler stated, “I believe that a person is an art form in themselves and in the way they lead their lives.”

(Note: This is an excerpt from my dissertation and is copyrighted material)

(Margaret Roach Wheeler's Bear)

(Margaret Roach Wheeler's woven jacket)

(Margaret Roach Wheeler's Owl: The Messenger)(Margaret Roach Wheeler's Tribute to Diamond)